Warriors Super Edition: Starlingcloud's Prophecy

Chapter 3

"Don't you worry about that. We'll figure out what's wrong and solve it so you can be the best warrior there ever was!" Darkfeather's tail trembled with excitement. Starlingpaw noticed her overly cheery attitude and wondered if she had been spending time with Russetstorm. The whole camp suspected that they were going to be mates soon, but Darkfeather's brother, Sootpelt, anything but approved of them.

"Fine," Starlingpaw mumbled, and picked up the moss ball again, padding off to the elders' den.

"There you are, Starlingpaw!" Vinetail crowed as the apprentice entered the large bramble bush that was the elders' den. "We've been waiting to tell you a great story about Blizzardstar's first day as leader! You positively have to hear it!"

"Sorry, Vinetail, I can't," Starlingpaw meowed sadly, nudging Vinetail with her nose in apology. "Darkfeather just sprung a surprise training session on me."

"With your leg, I would think not!" Mossfur exclaimed, flicking his sleeping mate, Willowclaw, with his tail. "Don't you think so, Willowclaw?"

Willowclaw yawned and shook her snow-white fur to wake herself up. "What did you say?" she croaked.

"I said that poor Starlingpaw shouldn't be forced to train when she's injured!"

"Well yes, of course! No cat should be pushed over the edge of their capacity. It's harmful," Willowclaw responded, then settled back down to sleep.

Starlingpaw listened to the retired warriors as she shook the moss to remove the moisture and began to shape clumps of it into nests. By the time she was done, the elders had completely derailed their conversation and had begun chatting about a battle they had fought in when they were young warriors, and Starlingpaw was able to sneak out without any more trouble. She felt a warm glow knowing that she had helped out cats that had done so much to serve their clan, and almost forgot for a moment about the training session she was headed to.

Darkfeather was waiting by the camp entrance, a break in the thicket that surrounded camp. They walked under the arching fronds, ducking their heads to avoid the dense leaves, and padded together into the forest. Starlingpaw's mentor led the way, taking her to the giant tree that grew deep in DawnClan territory, its trunk covered in a variety of mushrooms and fungi.

Darkfeather stopped and turned to face Starlingpaw, sitting down and curling her tail around her paws. "To start, I'd like you to climb this tree for me."

Starlingpaw was unsure how climbing a tree would help her, but she obliged and began to claw her way up the trunk. As she ascended, she smelled the lovely, earthy aroma of the mushrooms, though a couple of types made her scrunch up her nose in disgust at its odor. She wondered if mushrooms had any medicinal use to them, and decided to ask Honeypool about it the next time she was around.

Soon enough, Starlingpaw had made it to the first branch, which was rather high off of the ground. The climb was difficult, but she didn't feel like it was abnormally so; no cat could scramble up the colossal tree without great effort. She paused to rest on the branch, but Darkfeather called for her to return before she could continue upwards.

When Starlingpaw had finished climbing down, she marveled at the lack of pain in her leg. Honeypool must have worked wonders on her for the bite to heal so quickly. She wished that her own pursuits in training were as successful as Honeypool's healing.

"It seems that your claws are not the problem, then," Darkfeather mused, studying her apprentice with her striking orange eyes.

Starlingpaw struggled to repress an answer, wondering what her mentor was planning. Darkfeather stood up immediately and signaled for Starlingpaw to follow as she set off deeper into the woods.